I'm not sure why a transfer would require a new work permit, as if one was granted when he arrived at Arsenal I would have thought that would remain valid should he move clubs. However, as expected, it doesn't appear that there were any problems obtaining it.

Should the deal be concluded (an announced) shortly, we could even see him feature out in South Africa for the Vodacom Challenge over the next week.

Well done Mr Hughes, you've just blown £25m on a bloke who will never fail to dissapoint. If you don't treat him with the respect he thinks he deserves, he'll be causing chaos in the dressing room and fucking it up on the pitch. Next year, you'll be lucky to sell him for £15m, and my God you'll want to! You can just hear Tevez in 10 months time "Either he goes or I do!" AdeByeBye!

Fantastic striker on his day, clearly motivated by money. Had his best season in 06/07 we doubled his wages, then he has played half as well since. Fell asleep in 2 champions league semi finals, showed a distinct lack of effort throughout his final season, had bust ups with players and flirted with other clubs. He'll have a barnstormer of a first 6 months for City but watch him get the ump again. I hope the work permit is only for 6 months because thats all the work you'll get from Ade!

Well anon, he who laughs last as they say. Ade is a good player when he wants to be but he also likes the nightlife and to live up to the style he portrays himself in. You won't like the acolytes he brings with him and I can see a giant sulk heading to see his Beyonce in Milan eventually.

If I lived in the shadow of Purple Nose all these years, forget Arabs. I'd take the money from The Great Train Robbery and never bat an eye.

What I WILL tell you, though, is that Manu Adebayor is the only player I've ever truly wished to be unloaded from my club. Oh, we get frustrated by the likes of Eboue, Abou (Where Do I Run Next?) Diaby -- and maybe you'll even remember a hapless defender called Pascal Cygan, who could manage to put EVERY clearance onto the foot of a shooter in deadly range.

These players have struggled at times, have caused gray hair among Gooners, have made us screech at Arsene to PLEASE find them a beer vendor's job -- but none ever galvanized the support like Ade.

We're talking about a man who scored 30 goals two years ago and created the goal of the season in the CL against Villareal THIS year.

You're getting an immmensely gifted player. No question. For six months or maybe a full season, he will be a beast who makes 25 million look like a steal. (And of course he'll score against us, probably more than once.)

But the cost?

Ade makes team unity impossible. And if you think back, you'll recall that Real Madrid's galacticos basically won nothing. Football requires talent AND togetherness, and Adebayor -- without even knowing it -- will prevent it. This is a guy who came on late in a Carling Cup drubbing at Spurs and got into a fight with teammate Nicklas Bendtner after saying, "I'm on because you're shite!"

The bottom line is that Ade -- with his sideshows, with his antics (dancing on the pitch, and off it), with his mindless statements to the press, with his general craziness -- will not allow team chemisty to develop ANYWHERE.

He was suspended at Monaco when Wenger saved him. He's had TWO scrapes with the Togo FA and been suspended there for demanding more bonus money. You'll be giving him a king's ransom, but sadly...some people cannot handle fame and fortune.

You're good fans. You deserve this time in the sun, more than the Chavs ever did. If you're fighting us for honours, so be it. Fair enough.

But if it comes to that, I'll be glad Emmanuel Adebayor is wearing a blue shirt.

Wait a year and ask a warrior like Carlos Tevez if he agrees with me.

Good luck and enjoy those rare moments of brilliance from the big man. Like summer here in Scotland, they never last long enough to be satisfying.